World Without Tears is a clear high-water mark in Lucinda Williams’ catalog of poignant country and roots rock. It sends out heavy vibrations with every moment—notably Doug Pettibone’s vicious guitar solos on the electrifying “Righteously”—but Williams’ songwriting and delivery here are the album’s most potent weapons. She slinks through the Stones-imbued “Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings” and howls her pain on “People Talkin’.” But “Those Three Days,” with its gentle sway, conjures lonesomeness like nothing that came before it.